Mum rabbit needing vet?

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Jadetrott23

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Hi my doe kindled this morning or last night, she hasn't eaten pellets in a week, last night I poured warm water over the pellets and this morning she had eaten them I'm assuming after giving birth, thing is I thought it may be a dental issue as it looks like she has a lump on one side of her face, she does have tufts of fur either side of her face due to her breed so it's difficult to tell if it's her fur or a lump. If I make an appt at the vets it will stress her out as she's a quite nervous nature and I don't want her to abandon her kits or they'll die, but at the same time if it is something I don't want to just leave it, she is eating broccoli and kale though
 
Okay, we need more information.

How many kits? Is she feeding them?

Can you feel a swelling on the side of her face? Any unusual heat on that spot? Redness of the skin? Does the spot seem to be painful? Can you trim the excess fur tufts so you can see what's happening there?

What do you normally feed her? If she hasn't eaten pellets for a week until you moistened them, has she been eating other things like hay, greens, oatmeal etc. ?

To me this seems like a serious situation. If rabbits don't eat for extended periods of time, sometimes their digestive system will shut down.

Is she drinking water? (Give her a crock as well, if she normally has a bottle.) Is she peeing? Does she have normal poops, both in size and quantity?

I know this seems like a ton of questions, but these are all things that most rabbit owners monitor on a regular basis, almost automatically.
 
Hi Jadetrott,
Do you mean she has not eaten anything in the past week? or she has been eating some stuff but no/minimal amount of pellets (e.g., eating hay or veggies or whatever, just not touching her pellets). A good way to tell is has she been pooping.

Some does will start eating less as their kindling day approaches. Now that she's kindled she'll probably go back to eating solid pellets (which in case you didn't know, she should be free-fed now; as much as she cares to eat).


Also keep in mind:
1) Does only feed once or twice a day (maybe 10-20 minutes total over a day) if you see her away from the nest that is totally normal.
2) This eating issue is probably unrelated to her mothering abilities. Keep in mind that should something unfortunate happen. I could see an issue where she's just does not have the mothering instincts, and someone taking it as a sign you should have taken her to the vet.

Best of luck! Hope it all works out well.
 
Hi thankyou for your replies m, she hasn't eaten pellets in 9 days, on the day she kindled she ate a small bowl of pellets that I had poured warm water over, she hadn't eaten any since but I think she may have eaten approx two teaspoons of solid pellets last night, she has been still eating small amounts of hay and going mad for broccoli and kale, her poop appears normal in every aspect and she seems to be peeing, I took her to the vet this morning and they can't find anything wrong with her, they have advised that I keep an eye on her food intake and poop overnight and take her back tomorrow if no improvement, they have given her two injections one to kick start her gut and two an anti acid, this problem only started during pregnancy, she's been having a drop of apple cider vinegar in her water should I stop that now she's nursing? Thanks
 
Personally, I'm not sure that broccoli and kale are the best greens to be feeding any rabbit in large quantities and on a regular basis. They are not considered the 'safe' greens, as far as I know. They tend to cause gas and stomach problems.

If she is pooping normally, you have little to worry about. The first place you will notice an issue with food intake is in the litterbox. Poops will become scarce and smaller. Change her litter box and keep an eye on that if you're concerned.

She should have always have constant access to timothy hay, as much as she will eat. While lactating, I've noticed that rabbits will often eat things they would not normally eat (my doe, for example, would eat banana while lactating, but no other time). There are plenty of lists in the forum of fresh greens that are safe for rabbits to eat. Off the top of my head, some of those are dandelion greens, cilantro, plantain (the yard green, not the banana family).

Here is a link to a list. http://www.mybunny.org/info/rabbit-diet ... r-bunnies/
 

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